Writing the Romance Novel: From Meet Cutes to Happily-Ever-Afters

Do you love reading about love? You’re not alone. Romance is the bestselling fiction genre by far, and accounts for more than a billion dollars in book sales a year. It's one of the few book genres that are growing their audience, and there's never been a better time than now to write your own romance novel.

All you need to get started is an understanding of the basic building blocks of a good romance novel: a high concept premise, romance tropes (rivals-to-lovers, grumpy-sunshine, forced proximity, second chance, oh my!), the not-so-easy to write sex scene (closed door, or open, is up to you), and of course the non-negotiable Happily Ever After (HEA).

All participants receive a paperback copy of , by Christina Lauren. We’ll dissect how this New York Times bestselling romance writing duo make the most of tropes and chemistry in their sizzling bestsellers.

Cara Tanamachi (who also writes as Cara Lockwood) is the award-winning USA Today bestselling author of more than 38 books, including (St. Martin’s Press, 2024), which received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly. Her first novel, (Simon and Schuster, 2003), was made into a Lifetime Original Movie starring Denise Richards (and is now streaming on Amazon Prime). Her Valentine’s Day romance, (St. Martin’s Press, 2023) won the Diverse Writers and Readers International Romance Book Literary Award in 2024, and earned a Library Journal starred review. She also wrote the novelization of the Hallmark movie, The Dater's Handbook, starring the Duchess Meghan Markle. She’s a writing coach and editor who’s helped hundreds of authors fulfill their dream of becoming published authors. Read more about her at https://caratheauthor.com/.

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